Claudia's Text on the Platypus and the Cows of the Highlands

THE PLATYPUS

The platypus is considered one of the strangest animals in the world

and belongs to the family of the Ornithorhynchus anatinus.

It is an animal that is found only in Australia and in the island of

Tasmania, and lives in burrows in places where there are lakes and

Most of them can live even 10 years, and when babies are born


It is one of the five animals that lay eggs being a mammal, and one

of the few venomous mammals; the venom is injected by the spur of

It is a carnivore that eats larvae, insects and fresh water shrimp.


THE COWS OF THE HIGHLANDS

This rugged cattle breed is one of the oldest ones living for centuries

in the harsh climate of Scotland. Its forelock gives a pretty and funny

look, and performs an essential function. In winter it protects them

from wind, snow, storm and insects that might transmit infections.

The two layers of their hair make them excellent cows. The matted

coat of the outer layer sometimes reaches 33 centimeters long, is

oily and repels rain and snow. Below that layer, they have another

soft coat that kept them warm.

True or False:

1) Most of the platypus can live even 12 years.

2)The hair of the cows of highlands sometimes reaches 33 cm long.

3)The platypus only is found in Australia and Canada.

Open questions:

a) What is the name of the family the platypus comes from?

b)Which things make the hair of the cows of highlands to be

essential?

Synonyms :

a)transfer(5 paragraph)

B)fleecy (3 paragraph)

c) curious(1 paragraph)

d)hot(6 paragraph)

Sergio's Text on Tortuguero

Last summer I was in tortuguero (Costa Rica) and there, I could see an amazing phenomenon: turtle’s spawning.

Turtles nest and lay their eggs on the shores of the natural park between July and October, a period in which the natural park is frequented by thousands of tourists.

 However, being a fragile ecosystem, only a certain number of tourists are allowed in each tour spawning, to thereby avoid disturbing nesting turtles.

The tours are conducted in the evenings. I will tell you how were the rules of the tour to see turtles spawning:

First we had to put off the mobiles phone.

Second we had to go with red light lanterns (it was dark).

Third we had to stay quiet.

When all these rules are ok the tour guide notifies you when you can see the turtle.

 The turtle leaves the sea, excavates a nest and lay about one hundred eggs.

She goes into a trance and in this moment you can see the process without disturbing her.

After three months the little turtles break the eggs and have to run to avoid to be eaten by a lot of predators before reaching the ocean.

Only a few numbers of turtles survive and one on three hundred lives and reaches the adult stage.

True or false:

1) Many turtles survive and reach the adulthood.

2) You can be with the normal lanterns in the tour.

3) The turtle lay the eggs in the ocean.

Open questions:

    1)      Where do turtles lay their eggs? When?

    2)      When are the tours conducted?

Synonyms:

1 )Surprising 1

2 ) Happening 1

3) Visitors 3

4) Nevertheless 3

Miguel's Text on Laura Dekker

LAURA DEKKER


The young Dutch sailor Laura Dekker became self this Saturday in the navigator youngest in history, with 16 Years and 123 days in hunging round the world solo to get to the island of St. Maarten in the Caribbean. After 366 days navigation and 27,000 nautical miles, 50031 kilometers.

Dekker has made one cruise aboard the ' Guppy ' ketch UN two masts and 11.5 meters. Partio Saint Marteen on January 20, 2011 for perform do challenge round the world to the Guinness World Records and the " world sailing speed records " will not recognize Follow Both On Line In Its not certify records youth of the most discouraging for Hazardous attempts .

Last Stage of the Journey through I realize the high seas and heavy winds from Cape Town (South Africa), air a long 41 Days. From boat when under cried and then crossed the dock accompanied by her mother, father, sister and grandparents. "There were times when I wondered, ' What the hell am I doing here?" But I never meant stop, because it is my day dream, and I wanted to do so. "

Laura was born in their parents boat near the coast of New Zealand, first sailed only with six years and ten dream scam began to give back to the world.


True or False:

- Laura Dekker was born in Holand.

- She lived for 8 years in a boat when she was a child.


Open questions:

- Hom many miles did she travel?

- What is her boat’s name?


Synonyms:

Ship(p 3): 

Sailing(p.1):
Trip(p.3): 

Teenage(p.2):

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Hi, guys!

I leave you here some good webpages to practice and improve your English during our beloved Christmas holidays.

PLEASE, if you can listen the music you like, watch your favourite movie, talk with native speakers if you have the chance and behave and have super gorgeous holidays with your friends and family :)

Kisses!! ;))

Use of English:

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises_list/alle_grammar.htm

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/es/grammar-exercises

http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/

http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com

Listening: http://www.lyricstraining.com

Reading: http://englishforeveryone.org/Topics/Reading-Comprehension.htm

Speaking: http://www.eslgold.com/speaking/speaking_situations.html

Writing: https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/skills/writing-skills-practice

Marcos' Text on David Lekuta Rudisha

David lekuta Rudisha’s career

Rudisha competed at the 2009 World Athletics Championships, reaching the 800 metres semifinals. In September 2009, Rudisha won the IAAF Grand Prix meeting in Rieti, Italy, posting a new African record of 1:42.01, beating the 25-year old record of 1:42.28 set by compatriot Sammy Koskei. That effort put him in fourth place on the all-time list. In the 2010 IAAF Diamond League, he took on Abubaker Kaki at the Bislett Games in June. He defeated Sebastian Coe's 31-year-old meet record with a run of 1:42.04, giving him another place in the top-ten fastest ever 800 m and leaving Kaki the consolation of the fastest ever non-winning time.


On 22 August 2010 Rudisha broke Wilson Kipketer's 800 m World Record two days before the anniversary of that record with a time of 1:41.09 while racing in the ISATF meeting in Berlin. Just a week later, he broke the record again at the Rieti Diamond League Meeting, lowering it to 1:41.01


With a time of 1:41.74, Rudisha set the United States all comers 800 m record at the 2012 adidas Grand Prix at Icahn Stadium in New York City. He guaranteed his selection for the Kenyan Olympic team for the first time with a win at the Kenyan trials, running a time of 1:42.12 minutes—the fastest ever recorded at altitude.


Rudisha currently holds the world record for the 800 m. He broke the record at the London 2012 Olympics on 9 August 2012, with a time of 1:40.91.

Questions:

1)               True or false.

a)                He competed at the 2009 world athletics championships reaching the 800 metres quarter-finals.

b)                His effort put him in  fourth place on the all-time list.

2)             Open questions.

a)    When did he break the world record for the first time?

b)    Where did he break his last world record?

3)             Synonyms.

a)             Attaining (paragraph 1)

b)             Beat (paragraph 2)

c)               Maintains (paragraph 4)

d)             Arrivals (paragraph 3)

Enrique's Text on Subliminal Advertising

The subliminal advertising


There are several forms of subliminal advertising. The most well known type involves hidden images, like paintings of Joe Camel where the background and his cigarette's smoke trail form the word "sex."


Similarly, you have instances of the "Fight Club" variety, where very brief glimpses of images are edited into a moving picture (movies, TV, etc.).
Perhaps the least known of (yet most often used these days) is an appeal to your "reptilian brain," or basal ganglia, the part of your 'noggin' responsible for various instinctive emotional responses (fight or flight).

This is commonly used by mainstream news media outlets such as Fox News and CNN. It could be exemplify by regular attempts to cause fear or anger through "Amber Alerts," "Terror Watch," "Financial Crisis" and the like. This is done in part to drive up sales from advertisers pushing goods/services intended to soothe you.

Think: news-blah-blah-FEAR-FEAR-FEAR (commercial break) "take [insert drug here] to give you a good night's rest."

Questions

1. True or false

a) Hiding images is not a method of subliminal advertising.


b) The fight club ain't a system of subliminal advertising.



2. Open questions

a) Who use the reptilian brain mode?


b) What types of examples that are used in the reptilian brain?




3. Synonyms

a) Common (paragraph 2):

b) Unseen (paragraph 1):

c) Adman (paragraph 3):

d) Represent (paragraph 3): 

Edu's text on Ebola

Ebola

The Ebola virus is a serious infectious disease that affects humans and other mammals . This name comes from the Ebola River, where it was first identified in 1976 during an epidemic with high mortality.

Until 2014 Ebola outbreaks had only affected specific regions of Africa. In this year , infections have occurred in other continents such as Europe or America . Since 1976 (the first documented human case identified) until 2013, the World Health Organization reported 1,716 cases.

Currently there is no vaccine for this disease, but are developing several lines of research.

The first documented outbreak of Ebola occurred in 1976 where 3418 cases and 2830 deaths with a case fatality rate of 18% was detected. The scientifics think that possibly the fruit bats are the mammals that transmit Ebola virus in Africa.

This virus is transmitted only through direct contact with fluids from infected mammals body. The virus is transmitted by direct contact with infected body fluids as blood, saliva or sweat.

Some symptoms that occur when you have the Ebola are fever, headache, red eyes, muscle aches, and vomiting, diarrrea, and internal and external bleeding.

This virus is very dangerous so ...

Be careful!

Questions:

1.True or false:

A.Before this year, Ebola had only affected Africa, not other continents:

B.Nowadays,there is a vaccine for this disease:

2.Open questions:

A.What do the scintifics think about the Ebola origins?

B.How do we transmit Ebola?

3.Synonyms:

A. Illness (Parragraph 1):

B. Happened (Parragraph 4): 

C.Percentage (Parragraph 4): 

D.From (Parragraph 2): 

Ana's text on Shailene Woodley

Shailene Woodley

Shailene Diann Woodley (born November 15, 1991) is an American actress. Her first roles included Amy Juergens in The Secret Life of the American Teenager and of Felicity Merriman in the 2005 film Felicity: An American Girl Adventure.

Shaileene's breakthrough was The Descendants. Her performance as Alexandra King received praise from critics and award recognition, including the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female and a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture.

Beginning in 2014, Woodley came to international prominence for her portrayal as the leading heroine, Beatrice "Tris" Prior, in The Divergent Series, based on the best-selling series of novels by author Veronica Roth, and Hazel Grace Lancaster in The Fault in Our Stars, based on the novel of the same name by John Green.

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011	The Descendants	Alexandra "Alex" King
2013	The Spectacular Now	Aimee Finecky
2014	White Bird in a Blizzard	Katrina "Kat" Connor
2014	Divergent	Beatrice "Tris" Prior
2014	The Fault in Our Stars	Hazel Grace Lancaster
2015	The Divergent Series: Insurgent	Beatrice "Tris" Prior	Post-production

QUESTIONS

      1. True or false.

       a)   Shailene’s first film was Divergent.

b) She played Hazel’s role in The Fault In Our Stars.

      2. Open questions.

       a)   How many awards has she won?

b) In which films has she participated?

3)  Synonyms.

achievement: (paragraph 2) 

public attention: (paragraph 3) 

prize: (paragraph 2) 

starring: (paragraph 3) 

Carlos Beltrá's text on mobile telephones

The first mobile telephone

BY: CARLOS BELTRÁ


A mobile phone is a phone that can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link while moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile phone operator, allowing access to the public telephone network. By contrast, a cordless telephone is used only within the short range of a single, private base station.


In addition to telephony, modern mobile phones also support a wide variety of other services such as text messaging, MMS, email, Internet access, short-range wireless communications (infrared, Bluetooth), business applications, gaming, and photography. Mobile phones that offer these and more general computing capabilities are referred to as smartphones .


The first hand-held cell phone was demonstrated by John F. Mitchell and Dr. Martin Cooper of Motorola in 1973, using a handset weighing around 4.4 pounds (2 kg). In 1983, the DynaTAC 8000x was the first to be commercially available. From 1990 to 2011, worldwide mobile phone subscriptions grew from 12.4 million to over 6 billion, penetrating about 87% of the global population and reaching the bottom of the economic pyramid. In 2013, the top cell phone manufacturers were Samsung, Nokia, Apple Inc., and LG.

1) True or false

A) Mobile Phones can only be used inside a house.

B) Mobiles nowadays only make calls.


2) Open questions

A) Who and when invented the first cell telephone?

B) How much did the first mobile phone weight?


3) Synonyms

A) wireless (p.1):

B) Chatting (p.2):

C) Mobile phone (p.3):

D) abilities (p.2):

Sara's blog on The Fault in our Stars

THE FAULT IN OUR STARS.

Hazel is a girl of 16 years old with cancer. She encounters a boy named Augustus Waters in one of the support group sessions that she attends. Augustus is smart, appealing and has a prothetic leg, although there are not signs of cancer in his body.

-What's your name?-he said
-Hazel
-No, your full name
-Um... Hazel Grace Lancaster.
He just looked to her.
-What?- she asked
-Nothing...-he said
-And why are you looking at me like that?
-Because you are beautiful. I enjoy looking at beautiful people.
-I'm not beautiful...

Then Augustus reached into a pocket and pulled out a packet of cigarettes. He flipped it open and put a cigarette between his lips.

-Are you serious? Do you think that's cool? Oh my god, even though you had FREAKING CANCER, you give money to a company in exchange, for the chance to acquire YET MORE CANCER!! Totally disappointing.
-Hazel Grace, if you don't light the cigarette, will not hurt you. It's a metaphor see:
You put the killing thing between your teeth, but you don't give it the power to do its killing.
                                                           

 QUESTIONS

1.- TRUE OR FALSE   
a) Augustus Waters have cancer.                
b) Hazel met Augustus in a support group sessions of her mom.              

2.- OPEN QUESTIONS
a) What did he say about putting the cigarette between his lips as a metaphor?
b) Does Augustus smoke?

3.- SYNONYMS.
a) admirable (paragraph 2):
b)  bitter (paragraph 4):
c) attractive (paragraph 1):
d) opportunity (paragraph 4): 

Patricia's Text on Cara Delevingne

CARA DELEVINGNE.


Cara Jocelyn Delevingne, born the 12th August 1992, is an English fashion model, socialite, actress and singer. Cara was born in London. She is Pandora Anne Delavigne and Charles Hamar Delavigne´s daughter, has two older sisters, Chloe and model Poppy Delavigne, her godmother is the actress Joan Collins. Delavigne distinctive dark, bushy eyebrows are her model trademark as well as her beautiful blonde hair.


She signed with Storm Model Management in 2009 and modelled in Clements Ribeiro and Burberry fashion shows in 2010. In 2011, Cara was featured in Burberry's spring/summer 2011 campaign, later she became the face of Burberry's spring/summer 2012 campaign. She has appeared in advertising campaigns for other brands like H&M, Zara, Chanel and Blumarine. In 2012, Cara won the "Model of the Year" award at the British Fashion Awards.


She played an important role in the film world, playing a part in the film Anna Karenina, an adaptation of Tolstoy´s novel. In 2014 she will take a role in films like the face of an Angel and Tulip Fever, she also sings and plays the drums. In 2013 she recorded an acoustic duet cover version with Will Heard.


Cara has a resemblance to Kate Moss though they´re separated by about twenty years; both Kate Moss and Cara Delavigne have much in common. Beyond his physical resemblance and its British origin, the two of them scratched the top of the modeling world and have been the standard bearers and protected of many star designers.



1. True or false?
 - She participated in the Hercules movie playing the role of a princess.

- Cara Delevingne is a British girl, she was born in London.


2. Open questions.
- In which campaigns of clothes has she participated? Name 3 of them.

- How many sisters does she have? Are they famous like?


3. Synonyms.
- Apart (paragraph 4):
- Mark (paragraph 2):
- Next (paragraph 2):
- Defended (paragraph 4):

Enrique Beneytez's text on the Scottish Referendum

Scottish Referendum.

By: Enrique Beneytez.

Almost 85% of the electorate turned out to vote, an unprecedented proportion in recent decades. The overall result was reached by simply adding together all ballots but data from the 32 Scottish council areas reveal differences in voting patterns.

The overall result was slightly wider than predicted with 55% No to 45% Yes but the split varied across areas. The closest result was Inverclyde with 50.1 No to 49.9% Yes. The most emphatic No vote was Orkney where 67.2% voted against independence, followed by Scottish Borders and Dumfries & Galloway. Dundee was the most pro-Yes with 57.4%, followed by West Dunbartonshire and Glasgow, which has an electorate of half a million people.

Questions.

1) True or false questions:

A) The 74% of the electorate turned out to vote.

B) After the referendum results Scotland will be independent from Great Britain.

2) Open questions:

A) Which council voted the most against independence?

B) What was percentage of YES in Dundee?

3) Synonyms:

A) Frontier:           B) Nearest:

C) Global:              D) Achieve:

Just checking out!

Hi my dear students!

This is me just checking how to create the blog.

See you tomorrow!

Ana